The Church of Firsts....

Since 1957, the United Church of Christ has been the church of firsts, weaving God’s message of hope and extravagant welcome with action for justice and peace. Together, we live out our faith in ways that effect change in our communities. The UCC's many "firsts" mean that we have inherited a tradition of acting upon the demands of our faith. When we read in Galatians: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus"—a demand is made upon us. And so we were the first historically white denomination to ordain an African-American, the first to ordain a woman, the first to ordain an openly gay man, and the first Christian church to affirm the right of same-gender couples to marry. We were in the forefront of the anti-slavery movement and the Civil Rights movement. Our response to the demands of our faith is woven into the history of our country.

....In West Palm Beach

Union Congregational was organized on Easter Sunday in 1894, and was originally located in downtown West Palm Beach and is the second oldest church in West Palm Beach. Our present building was constructed in 1994 on the southwest corner of Summit and Haverhill roads in West Palm Beach. Union Congregational was instrumental in helping to build the first schoolhouse, the first library, and the first hospital in West Palm Beach.

If you are looking for a church that has a rich heritage expressed in a faith community committed to the inclusive love of Jesus Christ, come and check us out.

Located at

5088 Summit Blvd.
West Palm Beach, FL 33415
(Corner of Summit Blvd. & Haverhill Rd.)

A Church of Extravagant Welcome
Today, we continue to change lives throughout our community and the world. We work alongside more than 200 mission partners. We labor ceaselessly to fight injustice, in our community and in the United States and abroad. We instill our vision into our youth and young adults, forging leaders who will imagine new dreams. And we sustain and develop our members to live their faith in exciting new ways. We believe in a God that is still speaking, a God that is all-loving and inclusive. We are a church that welcomes and accepts everyone as they are, where your mind is nourished as much as your soul. We are a church where Jesus the healer meets Jesus the revolutionary, and where together, we grow a just and peaceful world.

Biography

The Rev. Dr. Sheila Harvey, newly published author of Messages of Hope: Preaching Peace and Justice for All, is an ordained, full-time pastor of Union Congregational United Church of Christ in West Palm Beach, Florida. Currently, Dr. Sheila sits on local, state and national non-profit boards to further serve others. Before joining Union, Dr. Sheila served as a full-time chaplain for several years. She also has more than two decades of combined ministry experience in Florida, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C.

Recently, Dr. Sheila presented her work on Just Peace at the 2022 World Council of Churches General Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany; served as a World Council of Churches (WCC) delegate at the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee on Racial Justice in New York; and submitted an official statement as a WCC delegate of the UN’s Inaugural Forum on Persons of African Dissent in Geneva, Switzerland. Most recently, Dr. Sheila was named a United Church of Christ (UCC) delegate for the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Additionally, Dr. Sheila has earned several degrees: a Bachelor of Science from Florida State University, a Master of Divinity from Howard University, and a Doctor of Ministry from Hartford International University. Dr. Sheila has also completed two national leadership institutes and holds a leadership certification from Harvard University. Dr. Sheila resides in South Florida with her talented and gifted son, Brandon.

Hi! My name is Michael-Ann Veziroglu and I am very excited to be serving at Union to help with children‘s ministry and youth projects. I moved to FL from AZ with my husband, Emre, and our two teenaged daughters, Delmy and Derya, in July of 2020. We had lived in AZ for over 15 years. I served a UCC church in Tempe as a part time Associate Pastor during that time, and was also able to be involved with the Southwest Conference, UCC as a youth coordinator for a few years, on the response team for many years and on the Executive Board for a year before moving. Prior to living in AZ, I served a church for five years as a fulltime Associate Pastor in Ann Arbor, MI.

Emre is a quality director for an aerospace company in Ft. Lauderdale and the girls attend Park Vista High School in Lake Worth. We have family in Miami, VA, NY and CT and are glad to finally be on the same coast! I, and we, so look forward to getting to know you, as we serve God together!